2009 archive
Break Time 0
Off to drink liberally.
Jindal Bells: Why They Won’t Ring in Washington Dept. 0
Shorter version: By embracing Richard Nixon’s odious Southern Strategy four decades ago, the Republican Party finds itself today backed by historical reality into a corner where it is outnumbered and trapped.
Picking public faces of color, such as Michael Steele and Bobby Jindal, cannot erase a history of appeals to bigotry, prejudice, and nativism.
David Swerdlick at The Root:
Republicans’ long-term problem isn’t Jindal’s recent decision to oppose the president by signing on to Rush Limbaugh’s “I hope he fails” mantra, or that Steele could face a premature vote of no confidence . . . .
The “elephant” in the room is post-Goldwater Republican reliance on antipathy toward minorities among the hallowed voter demographic known alternatively as Reagan Democrats or “real” Americans. And in the present-day reality of an Obama world, it takes more than a loquacious black dude or true-believing, Indian-American public policy whiz to bootstrap that party into the 21st century.
When Zombie Banks Walked the Earth, Not Worth a Plugged Nickel Dept. 0
At least with a plugged nickel you can get a penny Tootsie Roll:
In other news, William Black tells Bill Moyers that the federal government is afraid to tell the truth about the banks’ insolvency because
H/T Brendan for the link to the William Black story.
In the Soup. Not. 0
Campbell Soup.
No bull.
Bears.
(snip)
. . . Lassie is long gone and Campbell Soup, which sponsored the popular TV program for its full 19 years, is wondering how to reverse a steep 15.5% decline in soup sales in March.
A. “Just Plain Wrong” 0
Q. What was it Susie didn’t say?
My Idea of a B & B 0
Booze ‘n Breakfast, that is.
“Good Night, Chet.” “Good Night, David.” 0
Atrios cuts to the quick on the struggles of the newspaper industry.
I have argued before (not here, in person–I actually do see real live persons from time to time) that, more than anything else, Craig’s List, which took the classifieds, led the charge. The Saturday classifieds in the Philadelphia Shrinquier, which used to be easily three sections (I have read the Inky off and on for 25 years), not counting the real estate ads, is now seldom more than one section, including the real estate.
Strictly Speaking, Letter of the Law Dept. (Updated) 1
The Booman on Republican attempts to sweep the Bush maladministration under the rug. Read the whole thing:
Digby has more.
Addendum:
Noz says let them do their damndest:
Strictly Speaking 0
In Republicanland, “strict constructionism” means “rulings we like.” “Judicial activism” means “rulings we don’t like.”
Dick Polman, writing about the gay marriage ruling in Iowa, explains “strict constructionism” (emphasis added):
. . . The Iowa judges explain those workings with a minimum of frills: They start by citing the state constitution’s Bill of Rights (“Equal protection of the law is one of the guaranteed rights”), noting that those rights “are declared and undeniably accepted as the supreme law of this state, against which no contrary law can stand,” and they underscore the preeminence of the state document by quoting the exact words of the document. (From Article XII: “This constitution shall be the supreme law of the state, and any law inconsistent therewith, shall be void.”)
You know how conservative critics of the courts always say that judges should be “strict constructionists” who accept the constitutional language precisely as it is written? Well, that’s what the Iowa judges did.
Aside: My position on gay marriage is a resounding “so what.”
When Zombie Banks Walked the Earth 0
One more time, not enough assets to cover liabilities.
That is the textbook definition of “bankrupt.”
Mark Mayo, late of Deutsche Bank, which (according to the story) he exited under a cloud of valuing objectivity too highly, quoted on Bloomberg:
The changes to mark-to-market accounting rules will impact banks’ balance sheets by one-third or less and will have no impact on the economics of bank troubles, Mayo wrote. Banks committed the “seven deadly sins” of banking in trying to compensate for lower natural growth rates and will now feel the costs of those actions, Mayo wrote.
The Free Hand of the Market Watch 0
Rowenna Davis, reviewing an ebook called The Crash in the Guardian, argues that most lefties don’t understand financial markets.
She has a point. Indeed, I think most persons don’t understand the markets. Yet, as is daily proven, the markets are important, not just for those who frequent them.
How many persons actually listen to the business news or read the business section in the paper? For most, that’s eyes-glaze-over territory filled with impenetrable double-talk and inane trivialities like “Jane Tribble just got promoted to Second Assistant Director of Beanie Babies.”
There’s a reason the business news comes at the end of the newscast or in the last section of the paper; only the dedicated pay attention to them.
Drink Liberally 0
On Tuesday, Triumph Brewing Company, three blocks east of the Second Bank of the United States/Old Customs House on the other side of Chestnut, Philadelphia, Pa., 6 p.
Good food, good drink, good company.